Toxicologists have a saying that "the dose makes the poison," meaning that anything and everything can kill you in large enough quantities. So here we take five incredibly common (and usually benign) foods and household items to their illogical conclusion. Ever contemplated eating 480 bananas? Don't do it. »2/10/15 1:00pm 2/10/15 1:00pm

Take a look at these fascinating videos explaining the many horrible ways that animals can use their hollow fangs, grooved teeth, lip glands, claws, spurs, spines, stings, and tentacles to deliver venom for the sole purpose of paralyzing and killing other animals—including humans. »6/10/14 12:24am 6/10/14 12:24am

Poison can be a curse, a killer, and even a medicine—an alchemical substance that appears in everything from myth to literature. You might not think of poison as being this multifaceted, but that's exactly what the American Museum of Natural History's new exhibit—The Power of Poison—delightfully urges you to do. »11/15/13 4:20pm 11/15/13 4:20pm

Should you have happened to find yourself dining with Bulgarian royalty 700 years ago and the wine tasted a bit off, you would have been smart to put the goblet down. Bulgarian archaeologists have just discovered a medieval bronze ring explicitly designed to poison political foes—in the most discreet way possible. »8/22/13 12:40pm 8/22/13 12:40pm

Think twice before stomping the lights out of the next cockroach you come across—you're going to want them to return the favor after the takeover. Thanks to new research on this most vexatious blight of mankind, we can now say more or less definitively that the despised cockroach will, in fact, come to rule us all.… »5/24/13 12:30pm 5/24/13 12:30pm

There are plenty of reasons to be thankful that you don't live in the early 1900s (child labor laws, air conditioning, what have you), but just in case you've been feeling nostalgic for simpler times, new research from the University of Detroit Mercy should put those wistful fantasies to rest. After chemically… »4/08/13 1:20pm 4/08/13 1:20pm

Guam has a problem with brown tree snakes. Specifically, it has two million brown tree snakes, and they're slowly decimating other native species. So scientists have come up with a solution, the only logical one really: fill a bunch of dead mice with painkillers, give each corpse a tiny parachute, and throw them all… »2/22/13 5:20pm 2/22/13 5:20pm

North Korea hates Park Sang-hak, a former citizen and now South Korea resident and activist against the brutal regime of the Kim Jongs. They hate him so much that they sent a killer agent to eliminate him using these James Bond-ish weapons. »11/26/12 3:06pm 11/26/12 3:06pm

You might notice the sting of the injection. Within seconds you'd realize you're having trouble moving your eyes and fingers, followed by your arms and legs. If you were standing, you'd collapse. In a heap on the floor, you'd realize nearly every muscle in your body was paralyzed. Being fully conscious, your sense of… »5/28/12 1:00pm 5/28/12 1:00pm

This is really bad: a man hit with a poisonous umbrella in a street of Hannover, Germany, has died after a long struggle in the hospital. It sounds like a James Bond movie, except that it's real and it sucks. This is what happened: »5/14/12 4:20pm 5/14/12 4:20pm

New York City is littered with filthy rats and it's not unreasonable to want to kill 'em all with poison. Too bad it's going to be a lot harder to do that because sellers of the best rat poison—61 times more powerful than normal—have been arrested in a sting operation. »9/20/11 2:40pm 9/20/11 2:40pm

The Foxconn stories keep dragging on. Over at their India factory, 250 workers were poisoned by pesticide spray, resulting in them ending up in hospital due to "sensations of giddiness and nausea." »7/28/10 3:14am 7/28/10 3:14am

A small dose of hydrogen sulfide gas put this little guy into a state of suspended animation for six hours. If the technique can scale up to humans, it could buy doctors valuable time in emergency situations. »10/15/09 11:40pm 10/15/09 11:40pm

It won't stop you from overdrinking, but Rotgutonix will test unmixed drinks (or those mixed with water) for the presence of unadulterated alcohol aka rotgut. The concept has a chemical sensor can detect several alcoholic brands in about 20 seconds. »8/14/09 4:00am 8/14/09 4:00am

Did you know that your HDTV has a gas in it that could make you and your family sick and destroy the planet? It's true, a gas called Nitrogen Trifluoride, and it's bad stuff. Apparently thousands of times worse for the planet than CO2, it's a greenhouse compound that could significantly contribute to global warming.… »7/04/08 8:30am 7/04/08 8:30am